South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won arrived in Bahrain on Monday (Seoul time) and plans to meet with his counterpart to explore ways to boost economic exchanges, his office said.

It is the first leg of his seven-day tour of Bahrain, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Turkey from Sunday aimed at boosting South Korea's economic and cultural ties with the countries.

Chung's trip to Bahrain marks the first time that a South Korean prime minister has visited the Middle Eastern country since 1976 when the two forged diplomatic relations.

Later in the day, Chung is scheduled to sit down for talks with Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation on a variety of fields, including trade, finance and energy.

He also plans to meet with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to his office.

"Chung's visit is expected to lay the foundation for strengthened cooperation not only with Bahrain but its neighboring Gulf states. It will help broaden our diplomatic horizons and our firm's inroads into new markets," an official of his office said. 

The prime minister will move to his second destination of Qatar early Tuesday. (Yonhap News)